Epic Studio’s sound stage is to be our home for the next 18 days. We all meet up at half seven for breakfast. There is a real tension in the room for two reasons. The first is the discomfort of strangers, the second. Oh my God, the second is we all know that from today Magda (Grace Vallorani) is being installed in to her cell and her journey in to hell is about to begin. We all know how brave this piece of work is going to be. This is the first movie I have been on where we are actually having to hire a psychiatrist just to keep the cast safe. For full details please go to the Baphomet.tv web site. However, the quick summary is. Magda is living on the set full time for the duration of her characters incarceration within the parameters of the script. This is not just any old set. This is a horror film set. Think about it. When I do I feel Sick on her behalf.
Paul Hamer, Nancy Manson and I set up the web cam that powers Baphomet’s eye. Not only is this going to be used as part of the film. (IMDB – what extra credit should I get for that one?) but it also powers the www.Baphomet.tv web site too. I am happy to have got all this done so quickly.
There is frenetic activity all over the studio floor, the camera crew have just installed the camera into the cell and Roger Bonnici our DOP looks happy. Sound as they always do claim to have been ready for hours and are waiting for the rest of us. I notice that the Booms are not plugged in yet but say nothing. The first board is marked and we are almost ready for the first slate. Paul Hamer installs himself in the cell Just behind Paul Hills when the call is made to kill the house lights. Three seconds later we are plunged into total darkness.
My heart stops. How are we going to film behind the scenes when they are just a massive void of blackness. Sure Derek Jarmon did “Blue” however if the Making of Documentary is called “Black with the occasional sound bite” I think Mr Hills would feel entitled to ask for his money back. I desperately try to film, hunting out shadows and sound files but in my heart I know that this is going to be useless. After two takes Paul leaves the inner sanctum of the cell and as he walks out I catch his disbelief. He looks around again and then at me. I say “I’m not miracle Max buddy” his silence is deafening.
We walk to the crew room and fire up our laptops, drink coffee, lots of coffee and start to put up the main film web site www.powerthemovie.co.uk we don’t just do the making of documentary for films we also do web sites too. We also did this for Monk3ys although that web site was supposed to be Cormac’s blog. I guess though Cormac lost interest a little too quickly. Mr Cullingham likes things to happen instantly. Ha ha
It is good to keep busy. It keeps the panic at bay. Not only do I have no idea of how I am going to tell this story I am realising that the chances of filming any of it are almost zero. I can’t help feeling we are fucked.
I walk back on to the soundstage. Penelope our 35 mm camera has jammed again. Panda our 1st AD is already looking stressed and it isn’t even lunch time. That is nothing, the sound guys are in despair. Apparently Penelope’s magazines are so noisy that they resemble pneumatic read side drills and they think that everything we have filmed so far is unusable and we will have to ADR everything.
I know what you’re thinking, an actress in a box, camera jams and the possibility of having to ADR an entire film. Come on mate that’s a story. We yes threads are appearing. But, there are two problems. 1) I still can’t film any of this as there is no light. 2) For a making of Documentary and EPK’s to work, the film needs to be complete too, and right now that could be a problem.
After lunch I get a quick interview with Jess (Constance Carter) and some sound bites with Mark Forstater. It is day one and people are already trying to avoid me. FANTASTIC, I feel I am getting somewhere.
I spend some time with Pauls PA Chiara, we are starting to think about the content for Mr Hills Blogs. We have the first four up on the site. Hamer and I spend a few hours building the outbound link campaign. We know that this well help the site’s over all SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) but we keep an eye on not just linking to anything it is important to be balanced after all if you are linking somewhere it needs to be interesting and relevant, after all, real people read web sites and follow links it can’t all be about bloody Google (did I just say that out loud-what if they are reading this) Sorry Mr G I love you really.
Every time crew come into the room the news is getting bleaker and darker we hear that Penelope has a really hairy gate she must be some type of seventy’s porn star. Hair in the Gate, hair in the Gate, hair in the Gate. Repeat after me “hair in the gate”. It is becoming a mantra. How many feet of film are we loosing. God knows what are shoot ratio is going to be, some rumours are already saying it is horrific. Satanic even. Bugger of Baphomet we have a movie to shoot.
The cell is becoming more and more crowded. A camera team, sound, director, 1st AD. There is no room for us we are yet again banished to the darkness chasing shadows to shoot. Magda screams her guts out over and over again. The afternoon stretches into the night.
This is going to be a long and harrowing shoot.
Ian Manson Film Maker